METS - Looking to the Future

Ahhh!!! Another year that ended in disappointment all you Met fans. Not that I am complaining, but the Mets will need to do some work to sure up a team that had more wholes than the Titanic. A clear lack of offense down the stretch was surely to blame down the stretch, as well as a depleted and weakened bullpen after the loss of closer Billy Wagner. Looking at the Mets line-up, after you got past Wright, Beltran and Delgado there seemed to be no answers to producing runs.

So what so the Mets need to do? Some have suggested a total overhaul, we here at Pro Sports Insider feel the Mets only have a few needs to put them over the top and make them a World Series contender. The Mets will free up 40Million with the loss of Pedro, Alou, Oralando Hernandez, Oliver Perez, Jorge Sosa and Easley. So how do we spend that money, there are 4 players.

#1: Pitching, Pitching Pitching! There are two top starters out there C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Either one would give the Mets a one two punch that could carry them during the season and in a playoff series. Behind their top 2, you add Pelfrey, Maine, and will need to find a veteran fifth starter or rookie to fill the 5th spot. (Hey, how about Heilmann?)

#2: Power in LF. Once the dinosaur named Alou went down in LF, the Mets scrambled. They need to look to get younger and add someone to plant in the 3-6 hole in the line-up. There are a few great options out there, Pat Burrell (Philly fans would go nuts) 33HR-86RBI, Adam Dunn 40HR-100RBI, Bobby Abreu (seems like the Yankees don't want him anymore) 20HR-100RBI and Raul Ibanez (hidden talent out in Seattle may be best fit for the Mets) 23HR-110RBI.

#3: Closer / Bullpen. Right away everyone is going to say Franscico Rodriguez. Well hold on a second, he may be the best but also the most expensive. Brian Fuentes (30sv-2.73ERA in Colorado) would be a solid second option and they can fall back on looking at Kerry Wood (34sv-3.72ERA) if they can't land either of Rodgriguez or Fuentes. After the closer role the Mets should be solid the emergence of Parnell and Smith could make Heilmann available to start. Stokes, Schoenweis, Sanchez, Stokes and Feliciano would round out a solid bullpen.

#4: Secondbase. This is a position that the Mets need to get more out of. They tried Castillo, Easley, Martinez, etc. None proved to be consistent enough. Castillo is still going to make 6.25Million next year. The best option is Nick Punto (.284BA) would provide great defense flexibility and a solid offense threat who would hit in the 2nd spot. Other options would be Mark Ellis (OAK), Iguchi (SD) and Eckstein (ARZ).

Mets 2009 Potential Line-up / Roster

1-Reyes (ss), 2-Punto (2B), 3-Beltran (CF), 4-Delgado (1B), 5-Wright (3B), 6- Free Agent LF, 7- Church (RF), 8-Schneider (C), 9 - P

Rotation: Santana, Burnett or Sabathia, Pelfrey, Maine, 5th Starter TBD

Bullpen: Parnell, Heilmann, Stokes, Sanchez, Smith, Schoenweiss(L), Feliciano(L)

Closer: Funetes or Rodriguez